ARTICLES
Adhesives
A problem which
all restorers have is when the customer
has tried to glue up a piece of furniture
themselves. Super glues and Evo-stik
Impact (in a red tin) are a nightmare
for us and should be avoided at all costs.
Until the twentieth century the normal
glue used by cabinet makers was animal
glue otherwise known as hide or scotch
glue. This was made up by boiling hides
and bones from animals. It would have
come in a cake or pearl form and would
have been melted down in a double pot
with water in one and glue in the other.
Even today this type of glue is regularly
used by restorers because it is as strong
on furniture as any other type of glue
and has the big advantage of being reversible.
Because it is comparatively slow drying
is gives more time to set the joints
up properly unlike the synthetic glues.
By reversible, I mean that it can be
heated and the glue will dissolve. The
advantage of this is that when a joint
becomes loose it can be dismantled easily,
clean and re-glued. When people use super
glues it becomes very difficult to dismantle
joints. I would therefore make a plea
for people to be aware of this. If necessary
PVA wood glue can be used and we do sometimes
use this when animal glue is not available
e.g when on site. However it is not truly
reversible and should only be used as
a last resort and never on joints. There
are many glues on the market such as
Cascamite and epoxy resins but at the
end of the day the only glue to use on
wood is the animal glue. When re-gluing
pieces of veneer it is essential that
all the old glue is removed before applying
new glue. As usual, if in doubt, call
in your restorer, having kept any loose
pieces of veneer or show wood in a safe
place.
>>> back
to top
Should I clean my brass handles
In my opinion
the answer is "yes", but
with some reservations. I like to see
brass which is clean and shines but looks
as if it has been in a country house
or stately home ever since it was made.
In other words it has been cared for
over the years.
Some years ago I was in the USA and
visited a number of their wonderful museums
to see their furniture collections. I
was horrified to see that on most pieces
the brass was so clean it might have
been new. It demeaned the furniture it
was supposed to enhance and frankly one
might easily have thought the brass was
modern reproduction. Clearly this is
taking cleaning too far and should be
avoided.
The difficulty with cleaning brass work
on furniture is that it is difficult
not to get the metal polish on the show
wood. A good idea is to use masking tape
to cover the show wood which avoids this
problem. For handles, it is better to
remove them if possible but an alternative
is to make a cardboard cut-out which
gives a profile of the back plate. If
you use this, it avoids damaging the
polish.
Metal polish is perfectly acceptable
for handles which have been maintained,
but if they are very tarnished try some
commercial ammonia. If you dip your brass
in ammonia for a few seconds and then
transfer it to a solution of warm soapy
water you will see a big improvement.
It might be necessary to buff up a little
with metal polish if the brass goes black,
which always happen if you let the air
get to the brass before it is dipped
in the warm water.
All brass work including castors and
mouldings benefit from cleaning, but
do not clean hinges.
One further word of warning. If you
have any pieces with ormolu mounts do
not attempt to clean these without consulting
a restorer. If you clean with metal polish
you will remove all the gold and immediately
devalue the piece. The experts use special
techniques which would not normally be
attempted by the public.
>>> back
to top Restoration
of leather desk tops
Because we are
always taught to look after our belongings
there is a temptation to keep everything
looking as if it is new. But if we own
antiques, the whole point is to appreciate
that they are old. It would be wrong
to restore them to look new and this
is a mistake that people too often make.
This is especially true of leather.
We normally see leather on desks, bureaux
and writing tables. Over the years they
will have built up a patina of grease
and dirt from the hands as well as the
odd ink stain and a few scratches. This
patina is to be treasured and not discarded.
Of course there will come a time when
an old leather really has come to the
end of its days but do be careful before
discarding it. A new leather can easily
be fitted but it will inevitably look
new and take years to develop that wonderful
patina you have just discarded.
Being a skin, leather does scuff quite
easily; it also deteriorates over the
years and become crumbly. Once this happens
there is little to be done so do ensure
that you feed your leather with a suitable
reviver such as that sold by Connolly's
of Wimbledon. An alternative is to use
the beeswax you use for cleaning your
wooden furniture.
Leather is of course used for other
items such as chairs and feeding is just
as important for them.
Whilst discussing covering for desks,
we should consider baize for card tables.
This is really a job for a restorer,
however the process of replacing a worn
baize is quite simple and having removed
the old baize and cleaned up the surface,
a new baize can be laid using PVA glue.
However care must be taken not to lay
the glue too thickly or it will penetrate
the fabric leaving unsightly white marks.
If in doubt, as usual, consult your restorer.
>>> back
to top |
